Teddy

Bridgewater

Bridgewater last played in the NFL for the Lions last season, playing just three snaps in a reserve role. The 32-year-old was last a full-time starter for the Broncos in 2021, battling injuries since being drafted by the Vikings in 2014. He retired to coach his high school alma mater and came away with a state championship. Now, he tells Pelissero and Rapoport “we’ll see how [the] next week and a half, two weeks play out, might be signing with a team or something.” The likelihood Bridgewater becomes a contributor at this point of the NFL season is low, but he has the desire to return to an NFL quarterback room. With 15,120 career passing yards and 75 touchdowns, Bridgewater would bring a veteran presence to any team that signs him.

Bridgewater is planning to coach high school football. Always in-between starting and “bridge” status, Bridgewater is only 31 but has had a “football life"-type career, including devastating injury setbacks. Bridgewater has had increasing difficulty staying healthy in recent seasons. It is probably a good decision to hang ‘em up while currently healthy. Bridgewater could still have another big moment or two in store for the playoff-bound Lions. He seems like someone bound to stay around the game, perhaps in a professional coaching capacity after he gets his feet wet at the high school level.

Bridgewater signed with the Lions following a successful workout earlier in the day and brings a veteran presence familiar with head coach Dan Campbell to the team. He should immediately step into the backup quarterback role for a Detroit roster devoid of experience behind starter Jared Goff. The Lions offered Bridgewater a contract in April but the two sides could not come to terms. Bridgewater had moderate success behind Tua Tagovailoa in Miami prior to injury in 2022 and also played well for the Broncos and Panthers during the 2021 and 2020 seasons, respectively.

The Lions offered a contract to Bridgewater back in April, but nothing materialized beyond that. With training camps now starting up, Bridgewater would make for a reliable backup for the Lions and head coach Dan Campbell, who worked with Bridgewater when then two were on the Saints. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides come to an agreement in the near future.

Bridgewater has interest as a backup from multiple teams. Signing with Detroit would reunite Bridgewater with HC Dan Campbell, who was on the Saints’ staff when Bridgewater was in New Orleans. It’s possible Bridgewater waits until after the draft to sign with a team.

Louis-Jacques notes that the lingering concern over Tua Tagovailoa’s availability proves that the Dolphins still need a “high-level, preferably veteran, backup,” and that Bridgewater isn’t likely to find a starting job elsewhere. Bridgewater spent several weeks inactive with a “chronic” knee injury this year and it’s probably a bit of projection to consider him a high-level backup at this point, but that doesn’t mean the Dolphins shouldn’t be interested in shoring up the position behind Tagovailoa.

Bridgewater will only serve as Miami’s backup in this game. Skylar Thompson is the starter. Also inactive for the Dolphins are QB Tua Tagovailoa, RB Raheem Mostert, OL Kendall Lamm, OL Liam Eichenberg, CB Noah Igbinoghene, TE Tanner Conner, and OL Brandon Shell.

The Dolphins are optimistic that Bridgewater can be Miami’s backup quarterback on Sunday, but given how much airspace has been spent on Bridgewater not being able to throw the ball deep effectively with this pinky injury, it would not be a great thing for the Dolphins if it came to that. It sounds like he’ll be only available as a true backup this week behind Skylar Thompson.

He was not seen throwing beyond 20 yards and missed last week’s game against the Jets with much the same sort of reporting coming out about the impact of his finger on his range. Skylar Thompson remains likely to start in the Wild Card round against Buffalo despite Bridgewater picking up enough limited tags to remain questionable.

If active, Bridgewater will only be available as Skylar Thompson’s backup. Dealing with a dislocated pinkie on his throwing hand, Bridgewater may ultimately hand the clipboard to Mike Glennon. Miami signed Glennon earlier this week.